Jessica Chastain to lead female spy movie 355

Jessica Chastain will lead the all-star cast for female spy movie '355', which will also star Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz, Lupita Nyong'o, and Fang Bingbing

Jessica Chastain will lead the all-star cast for female spy movie '355'.

The 41-year-old actress is set to star in the large-scale espionage movie directed by Simon Kinberg, which will also feature a cast full of A-list actresses including Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz, Lupita Nyong'o, and Fang Bingbing.

According to Deadline.com, all the actresses will star as international agents in the edgy action thriller movie, which comes as a move to break into the male-dominated genre with a full female ensemble.

Alongside starring in the movie, Jessica is also set to produce alongside Kelly Carmichael under her Freckle Films banner, with director Simon Kinberg also producing through Kinberg Genre.

Deadline also reports that the hope is to launch a franchise around the movie, in the same vein as popular spy franchises 'Mission: Impossible', James Bond, and the 'Bourne' movies.

Speaking to the publication, Jessica said: "I love the 'Bourne' movies, the 'Mission: Impossible' films, and wondered why, except for 'Charlie's Angels', there hadn't been a true female ensemble action-thriller spy film. That got my wheels going, along with the idea of casting actresses from all over the world to truly make it an international project. I realised the incredible creative freedom we would have with that. I brought the idea to Simon, told him about the actresses I was thinking of, and he was so sweet. He said, 'I want to do it with you.'

"Then I called all the women, told them what I was envisioning and that I wanted it to be a collaborative process, and how we would all create this together. Every single actress I called said yes, on the phone call. So far it has been a very wonderfully easy process."

Jessica hopes that '355' will help bring an end to the "confines of stereotypical traits".

She said: "The action genre has long been dominated by male heroes, and it's so exciting to be part of a film that will allow for not just one female action hero but a whole ensemble of very capable, fierce female characters that reject tired stereotypes. Characters that liberate from the confines of stereotypical traits. That is something that excited me about this, the opportunity to create different types of female heroes."

Theresa Rebeck is penning the script for the feature, which will be sold internationally by FilmNation Entertainment, and distributed in America and China by CAA Media Finance Group.